Pentax cameras

The period around 1950 marked the return of the Japanese photographic industry to the vigorous level of the early 1940s, and its emergence as a major exporter.

The newly reborn industry had sold many of its cameras to the occupation forces (with hugely more disposable income than the Japanese) and they were well received.

A recognized problem with the Asahiflex series was that, lacking a pentaprism, it was very difficult to use the camera in a vertical position and taking pictures of moving objects was almost impossible.

It's known that the "Pentax" name was originally registered as a trademark by VEB Pentacon, duly noting that both the M42 lens mount and the first recognizably modern 35mm SLR camera, the Contax D, were products of the East German branch of Zeiss Ikon, circa 1949.

By contrast, the Pentax series offered these features at a relatively low price, introducing many photographers to 35 mm SLR photography.

It was possible to attach an external CdS (Cadmium sulfide) exposure meter to the later AP-derived models, but in 1960 the next breakthrough arrived.

The Spotmatic was virtually identical to the prototype; however, the spotmeter was replaced with an all-over average-reading exposure meter in order to give more consistent results.

While Asahi Optical didn't put the Metallica into production, the concepts of a bayonet lens mount and a metal focal plane shutter were already being discussed internally at the company.

[17] To keep M42 users in the Pentax system, an M42-K Mount adaptor was offered, enabling them to continue to use their existing lenses, albeit with the loss of automation and needing to accept "stop-down" metering, which causes the viewfinder's image to brighten or darken whenever the aperture's f/stop is changed.

The KX featured a better light meter using SPD (silicon photodiodes), visible aperture and shutter speeds in the viewfinder, and a mirror lock-up mechanism.

The K2, the original flagship model, incorporated aperture-priority autoexposure with a fully manually selectable range of shutter speeds from 8s to 1/1000.

The only other aperture priority camera Pentax had made up to this point, the ES series, only had manual shutter speeds from 1/60 upwards.

The K1000 was the KM without the self-timer, depth of field preview and some other facilities, and was aimed at the lower end of the market in which it was very successful and continued in production until 1997, helped by the fact that for many years it was the camera usually recommended for students starting photographic or art courses.

While superficially resembling the ME, the MX was designed as a manual-only SLR system targeted to the advanced amateur or professional photographer, and had its own set of accessories that were mostly incompatible with the other M series cameras.

The Pentax LX model was a tough, professional-grade competitor to the Nikon F3, the Canon New F-1, Olympus OM-2, and Contax RTS cameras.

To enable control of the lens aperture by the camera body, it used the new KA-mount, a backward-compatible modification that also allowed the array of standard K-mount lenses to be used in manual and aperture-priority exposure modes.

[19] Pentax SAFOX I (Sensor Ability Fortifying Optical Correction System) autofocus module was integrated to these series.

This innovative series brought the "small and light" concept back from previous generation manual focus cameras.

The flagship model in this series is the MZ-S which body materials are metal, faster film drive and higher flash sync speed.

Since 2003, the *ist D is the only digital SLR that can control HS wireless P-TTL from its pop-up flash and has many advanced features for professional applications.

What set Pentax D and DS DSLRs apart from the competition was the clarity and high magnification provided by their pentaprism viewfinders, a very useful feature considering the support for legacy manual focus lenses.

Due to the smaller size of the CCD, lenses have an effective field of view of 1.5 × times the same lens in 35 mm format.

The later D-FA lens series re-introduces a mechanical aperture ring in some lenses and these are fully compatible with both film and digital SLRs.

[20] The Pentax K10D, a new flagship model in Digital K series replaced *ist D, adopted Sony 10-megapixel CCD sensor and weather-sealing construction, was announced on 14 September 2006.

The K10D featured a pentaprism viewfinder (instead of the slightly dimmer pentamirror on some previous models), full programmed, aperture and shutter priority modes, and a new Sensitivity-priority mode where the rear dial adjusts light sensitivity and the camera adjusts shutter speed and aperture to maintain correct exposure.

Power contacts on the lens mount were introduced to enable Pentax's SDM (Supersonic Drive Motor) for silent focusing.

[21] The K20D featured a Samsung 14.6 megapixel CMOS APS-C sized sensor, a special 21 frame/s burst mode, live preview on the LCD display, and an increased sensitivity range extending to ISO 3200.

Notable new features included full metal body construction, a pentaprism viewfinder covering 100% of the frame, 720p video capture, a quieter and faster shutter mechanism, and the ability to apply automatic corrections for lens distortion and lateral chromatic aberration.

[30] The K-01 quickly became one of the most controversial Pentax offerings, with criticism focusing on the innovative Marc Newson design, which many considered made the camera uncomfortable to hold, with poorly-placed controls, while acknowledging its strong image quality and low-light / high ISO performance.

In early 2015, Ricoh announced development of a Pentax full-frame DSLR for release later in the year, and at the CP+ show in Yokohama Japan, a mockup was displayed that suggested the camera's potential specifications, including: an IR port for remote release, an anti-aliasing filter simulation mode, and an articulating rear LCD.